If self-assurance is the crucible of business success, the Reimers are well on their way. “We don’t have fear, what we have is excitement,” says Leslie Reimer, who with her husband and partner Rudy is building the country’s
first model aqua-farm on their farm at Warren, Man. But don’t just take the Reimers’ word for it. Governments and industry groups from across Canada are focusing on the Reimer farm a dozen miles northwest of Winnipeg as a template for a major new farm industry.
Read Also
Flower power, with help from some feathered friends
After five years as owner-operator of flower farm Shifting Blooms, Raney’s long-time love of chickens is paying off more than…
By spring 2010, the Reimers’ former implement shed will be pumping out 120,000 two-pound rainbow trout a year, netting a projected 14 per cent return on investment for the venture.
More than that, their farm will also be a template to show other farmers across Canada how to add fish to today’s high-tech, profit-driven farms.
Close to half of all fish products eaten in Canada today already come from some form of aquaculture. The untapped opportunity, however, is to find ways to create sustainable, land-based aquaculture on the country’s farms.
The Manitoba couple has a track record of using their farm as a springboard for entrepreneurialism. They’ve worked together on everything from a hotdog cart and a Christmas tree farm to a large roasting-chicken operation based on farm gate sales.
“We’re always looking for a project to do,” admits Leslie. “We’ve been married for 23 years and we’ve always been in partnership. People who know us ask us ‘what are you doing now?’”
This project will be different. Every move and every penny will be monitored at this first-of-its-kind fish farm, known as the Manitoba-Canadian Model Aqua-Farm Initiative.
Construction of the $1.2 million project should be complete next month, and the first glistening
